Buddhist Crisis

The Buddhist Crisis was a political crisis which occurred in South Vietnam from May to November 1963. Religious discrimination against the Buddhist majority of the population by the Catholic-dominated government led to widespread demonstrations and crackdowns which led to the South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem (already unpopular in the countryside) losing urban support and ultimately being overthrown and killed in a coup that November.

Catholicism in Vietnam was a remnant of French colonial rule, and the country's elite remained Catholic even after independence. President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, the head of the country's security forces, presided over a massive persecution of Buddhists in the country: only Catholics were given high ranks in the military and politics, the government armed only Catholic self-defense militias against the Viet Cong, and forced conversions and the demolition of Buddhist pagodas frequently occurred. In 1958, Diem outlawed the flying of religious flags.

In May 1963, Diem caused controversy when he displayed Vatican City flags in Hue to celebrate the consecration of Diem's brother Ngo Dinh Thuc as an Archbishop, leading to the Buddhists raising their own flag to commemorate the birthday of the Buddha. On 8 May, Diem ordered the Buddhist flag to be taken down, leading to a demonstration which resulted in the ARVN military killing nine people between the ages of 12 and 20. Soon, Buddhists across the country began to protest against Diem's persecution, and, on 11 June 1963, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc publicly burned himself alive at a busy Saigon road intersection in a widely-publicized act of defiance which made international news. The United States, Diem's biggest ally, threatened to cut off aid if he continued to persecute the Buddhists.

However, Quang Duc's self-immolation was a signal that Diem's days were numbered, as was the large audience at his funeral and the large quantity of small golden pieces which girls left in his urn as a symbol of solidarity. Soon, the protest movement was not only supported by Buddhists, but also by several Catholic student activists. On 18 August, 15,000 people attended a massive protest at the Xa Loi Pagoda, so Diem declared martial law and ordered a series of attacks on Buddhist pagodas, arresting over 1,400 Buddhists and "disappearing" or executing hundreds. Diem shut down all of the colleges due to university students' participation in demonstrations; when high schoolers decided to take their places at demonstrations, Diem also shut down the nation's high schools.

By late August, a faction of the military was considering launching a coup against Ngo Dinh Nhu, whom they blamed for the political repression; his wife Madame Nhu was also widely hated for her arrogance and her mockery of the protesters (claiming that she clapped when Buddhist monks burned themselves and would be happy to personally provide the matches to burn more). On 24 August 1963, the generals sent a cable to the White House, hoping to gain US President John F. Kennedy's permission to launch a coup. Kennedy was on vacation at Hyannis Port, but Assistant Secretary of State Roger Hilsman was at the White House to read the cable. He sent a telegram to the US ambassador in South Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., ordering him to pressure Diem to dismiss his brother Nhu; if Diem refused, he would support his removal. Hilsman then sent the telegram to Kennedy for approval, and Kennedy agreed to send it because of his mistaken belief that most members of his cabinet had already agreed. However, key cabinet members such as his advisor Maxwell D. Taylor and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson opposed supporting a coup, arguing that it would only create more instability. Ultimately, Kennedy told the army officers that the USA would not assist the coup, but would also not prevent it. On 1 November 1963, the ARVN forces loyal to the generals seized government buildings in Saigon and convinced Diem and Nhu to leave their sanctuary at a Catholic church and surrender in exchange for safe passage out of the country. However, both of them were shot dead in the back of an APC shortly after getting in, and a military junta was established. Madame Nhu was not killed, as she was on a goodwill tour of the United States at the time. Kennedy regretted allowing the coup to happen, but he was himself assassinated just weeks later.

Diem and Nhu's deaths were celebrated across the country, and Lodge reported that smiles were worn on everyone's faces, as they were glad to be rid of a brutal dictator. However, they would soon learn that the military junta had no plans of making way for democratic elections, and South Vietnam would be ruled by a revolving door of military leaders until its fall in 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War.